2) A short, variable prayer, expressive of the spirit of the feast or season, recited in the Western liturgies before the Epistle of the Mass and repeated as the concluding prayer of the Canonical Hours. In early manuscripts it is known as the oratio ad plebem collectam (the united prayer of the faithful), formulated by the celebrant, after they have assembled. Collects are constructed according to a definite rhythmic form of stress-accent called cursus and consist of invocation, petition, and conclusion. The oldest collects in the present Roman Missal date back to the 4th and 5th centuries.